LIVE AT THE ASTORIA

Nobody will argue the habilities of the great Steve Vai as a guitar shredder, and this shows he still rocks live as much as in the studio albums. The concert is phenomenal, being the greatest part here the great solos by Steve, BUT the other musicians are not a background at all: the bass shredder Billy Sheehan and, an almost unknown guitarist and keyboardist to me, Tony Macalpine, which share some unisons and duels with Steve. Also, the drummer, Virgil Donatti does a very good job here.

The repertoire is about all the classics of Steve Vai's career up to 2001 (the yar of the concert), with the addition of a couple o songs from the new Sheehan solo album, like the hardrocker opener "Shyboy", two Hendrix's covers: a more metaleer "Fire" and "Little Wing", and the solo moments to Tony and Virgil, that give them place to shine on the keys and drums respectively. The highlights include the metallish "Bad Horsie", where Steve uses some weird effects, like lights on his fingers, moving at fast speed!, and playing the guitar with his foots, what you'd expect from a guitar hero, and a bizarre and remarkable moment during the concert; "Blood And Glory", which has some kind of 'hymn' feeling; the metaleer "Animal", where I found myself headbanging like an animal (!) and enjoying completely its solos, as with the closer "The Attitude Song"; "Tony's Solo", which is a great synth solo by Macalpine; "Bangkok" and the unforgettable classic "For The Love Of God", which reachs very emotional moments.

Overall, a very good concert which lasts more than two hours, recommended to Vai and technical guitar, shred fans. I think the average progger may find this a bit too 'show off' playing, but to me, it was an enjoyable experience seeing this DVD.

Rating: 3.8/5